4 Essential Golf Fitness Training Tips

Golf fitness training is becoming more popular among golfers these days. Training has proven to be effective in helping golfers improve their golfing skills. Interestingly, most people do not know that golfers have to undergo fitness training just like many other athletes. Golf is a precision sport that involves the use of a club and ball. The main objective is to hit balls into all the holes on a golf course with the least number of strokes. When playing the game, different types of clubs are used to hit the golf balls into the holes, and each type of club requires different skills and strength control. Therefore, it is essential for golfers to follow a well-designed training regime if they want to be successful on the golf course.

1. Functional Training

Functional training involves building the muscles of the body that are used during golfing. Just like most sports, golfing uses almost all of the muscles of the body. A golfer needs to establish stability before hitting the ball, and this requires the use of the leg muscles. When it comes to hitting the ball, the muscles in the upper body, especially the arms, are used. During functional training, a medicine ball that weighs 3 to 6 pounds is used. You have to make rotational lunges with the medicinal ball while moving your shoulders in rotation.

2. Cardio Training

Since a game of golf may last for hours, golfers have to be able to withstand long periods of physical activity. Cardio training is effective in helping them increase their endurance level by improving their heart rates and controlling breathing mechanisms. Some golfing events are so physically demanding that competitors need to have excellent endurance to perform well. Poor endurance will impact your swings, accuracy and general competitiveness. Examples of cardio training exercises that are beneficial to golfers include jogging, swimming and cycling. For optimum results, these exercises should be done three times a week.

3. Weight Training

Golfers also need to undergo some form of weight training to improve strength, power and overall fitness levels. Strength and power enables golfers to hit balls over long distances. Golf courses have different terrains and obstacles such as small water bodies. If you want to clear every hole with a good score, you need to have enough power and strength to hit the ball. This is where weight training plays a part. Weight-training exercises for golfers do not need to be intense, they should be varied enough to help you achieve better strength control. Ideal exercises include bench press, bicep curls and tricep pushdowns.

4. Flexibility Training

This type of golf fitness training tends to concentrate on improving the golfer's swing and increasing muscle flexibility. It is similar to stretching, but its main objective is to help the muscles gain permanent flexibility. A good golfer should not be rigid or stiff, as a rigid body tends to make the swings erratic. Flexibility training involves swinging the golf club repeatedly, as if the golfer is actually hitting a golf ball. By doing so, the muscles tend to stretch better. This contributes to a smoother swing, and it greatly reduces the chances of pulling a muscle as well.